The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

Last 5 news

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Vatican
City, 14 March 2013
(VIS) – This afternoon, the Holy Father Francis celebrated the “pro
Ecclesia” Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the 114 Cardinal electors
who participated in the Conclave and those who assisted with its
functions.

The
first reading was a canticle from the Prophet Isaiah that begins with
the words: “In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain” and continues with
the celebrated verses: “He shall judge between the nations, and set
terms for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the
sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” The
second reading was from the First Letter of Peter dedicated to the
common priesthood of the faithful, which reads: “like living
stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy
priesthood” and exhorts us to be “a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that you may
announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into
His wonderful light”. The Gospel reading told the story of Peter's
confession when Christ asked His disciples: “And you, who do you
say I am?” and Peter answered “You are the Messiah, the Son of
the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply: “And so I say to
you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and
the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

In
his first homily as Pope, and speaking in Italian without a text,
Francis noted that the three readings have something in common:
“Movement. In the first reading the movement is the journey; in the
second the movement is the building of the Church; in the Gospel the
movement is in the witness. To walk, to build, to witness.”

The
pontiff recalled that the first thing God said to Abraham was: “'Walk
in my presence and be blameless.' Our life is a path. When we stop
walking there is something that isn't right. To walk always in the
presence of the Lord, in the light of the Lord, seeking to live the
blamelessness that God asks of Abraham in His promise.”

“To
build,” he continued, “to construct the Church. This means
stones. Stones are solid but these are living stones, stones that are
anointed by the Holy Spirit. To build the Church, the Bride of
Christ, on the cornerstone that is the Lord himself.”

“To
witness … We can walk when we want to, we can build many things,
but if we do not witness to Jesus Christ then it doesn't matter. We
might become a philanthropic NGO but we wouldn't be the Church, the
Bride of the Lord. When we don't go forward we stop...we go
backwards. When we don't build on rock, what happens? The same thing
that happens to children when they build sandcastles at the beach.
They wind up falling down because they have no solidity.” Then,
citing Leon Bloy, the Holy Father affirmed: “Whoever does not pray
to God, prays to the devil” because “when we don't witness to
Jesus Christ, we witness to the worldliness of the devil.”

“To
walk, to build, to witness. But this is not so easy because when we
walk, when we build, when we witness, at times there are upsets,
there are movements that aren't proper to the journey. They are
movements that pull us back.”

“In
the Gospel,” the Pope continued, “even Peter who confessed Jesus
as Christ, says to Him: 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living
God. I will follow you but let's not talk about the Cross. That
doesn't have anything to do with it. … I'll follow you, without the
Cross.” But, “when we walk without the Cross, when we build
without the Cross, when we profess a Christ without the Cross … we
aren't disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we are bishops,
priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.”

“And
I wish that all of us, after these grace-filled days, might have the
courage, yes, the courage to walk in the Lord's presence with the
Cross of the Lord, to build the Church on the blood of the Lord that
is poured out on the Cross and to witness to the sole glory: to the
crucified Christ. And thus the Church will move forward.”

“I
wish for us all that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of
Mary, our Mother, grant us this grace: to walk, to build, and to
witness to Jesus Christ.”

After
the homily, the Prayers of the Faithful prayed for the new pontiff
and also for His Holiness Benedict XVI, “that he may serve the
Church while hidden to the world, in a life dedicated to prayer and
meditation.” The also prayed that national leaders “not act with
force or for personal interest, not in tyranny over persons, but
conscious that every power comes from God.” Finally, they recalled
“those who are suffering and those who are lost in the struggles of
life. That Christ, the supreme Shepherd, may restore and console them
and crown them with glory.”

At
the end of the Mass the pontiff visited the papal apartment in the
Apostolic Palace.

Vatican
City, 14 March 2013
(VIS) – It was no secret. Like one who has no cares that everyone
knows what he intended to do, at 8:24pm last night in his first
public appearance he stated: “Tomorrow I am going to pray to the
Virgin, for the safekeeping of all of Rome.” Then at 8:05 this
morning, leaving the Vatican for the first time as pontiff, the newly
elected Pope took one of the Gendarmerie's simple service cars to the
papal basilica of St. Mary Major, the oldest and largest church
dedicated to the Virgin in Rome. It is also one of the four largest
in Rome and claims the King of Spain as its proto-canon. The new
pontiff of the Catholic Church chose to enter through one of the
basilica's side doors.

Upon
entering the basilica the Pope headed toward the venerated icon of
Our Lady “Salus Populi Romani" (Protectress of the Roman
People) accompanied by, among others, Cardinal Santos Abril y
Castello, archpriest of the basilica and Cardinal Agostino Vallini,
vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.

The
Holy Father, after leaving the Virgin a bouquet of flowers on the
altar, prayed silently for about 10 minutes before the main altar
that is directly above the crypt containing relics of the crib or
manger of the Nativity of Jesus. He also visited the basilica's
Sistine Chapel, which is where St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his
first Mass after being ordained a priest. He waited several months,
until Christmas Eve 1538, to say his first Mass. “It is a very
significant place in Jesuit spirituality,” Fr. Federico Lombardi,
S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, noted. Finally, the new
Roman Pontiff also stopped to pray before the tomb of St. Pius V,
which is also in that chapel.

Pope
Francis also greeted the basilica's chapter of canons, confessors,
and priests as well as all the personnel that work there and the
faithful and journalists that he met along the way.

The
Holy Father left as he had arrived, with a minimal escort and
entourage. He was accompanied by Archbishop Georg Ganswein and Msgr.
Leonardo Sapienza, S.C.I., respectively prefect and regent of the
Prefecture of the Pontifical Household. Along the way, however, he
surprised everyone by first sending an affectionate greeting to
children from a nearby school and then by asking his driver to stop
by the Domus Internationalis “Paulus VI” near Piazza Navona where
he had stayed before entering the Conclave. The Pope greeted those
working there, gathered his belongings, and paid his bill.

MASS
WITH CARDINAL ELECTORS IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL

The
Holy Father's first liturgical celebration will be with the cardinals
who participated in the Conclave at 5:00pm this afternoon. They will
concelebrate the “For the Church” Mass in Latin, with the
readings in Italian. As the Vatican spokesman commented, “the
Pope's homily will probably be in Italian”. General information
regarding the readings and prayers can be found at the Office for
Liturgical Celebrations page of the Vatican website.

After
that Mass, the Holy Father will go to the apartment prepared for him
at the Domus Sanctae Marthae though, as Fr. Lombardi reported, “he
will only be there a short time as the Pope is expected to move
quickly into the Vatican apartments, which are now almost ready for
him.”

The
director of the Holy See Press Office commented on the Pope's first
public appearance yesterday evening, greeting the crowd gathered in
St. Peter's Square. He noted a few significant gestures that
characterized the simplicity and serenity of that encounter,
beginning with the Pope's request that the faith pray for him and his
choice of vestments. “The new Pope wore neither the red “mozzetta”
(the elbow-length cape worn by high-ranking prelates) nor a stole and
his pectoral cross was the same simple one that he has worn as bishop
and Cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The choice of his
name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, strongly recalls the
saint's evangelical spirituality and radical poverty. His papal name
is simply 'Francis', not 'Francis I', since he is the first pontiff
to bear that name. If after him another pontiff chooses that name
then he will be 'Francis I'.”

Another
gesture made by the new Pope, Fr. Lombardi continued, was that
yesterday in the Sistine Chapel, when his cardinal brothers paid him
homage, instead of sitting on the papal throne, he stood as he
received them. Then, instead of taking the papal car that had been
prepared for him to return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, he took the
same minibus he had arrived in along with the other cardinals. He
briefly addressed the cardinals at the festive supper, after thanking
them, saying “may God forgive you [for what you have done]”.

The
director of the Holy See Press Office also answered a question
regarding the renewal of the heads of the curial offices in their
positions. “It is traditional that in the first days of his
pontificate that the new Pope confirms those appointments. In the
past few times they were confirmed “until further notice” in the
first days of the pontificate as customary and then, at a later
moment, little by little the Popes chose their close collaborators
with complete freedom. This is a very personal act of government that
falls solely to the Pope.”

Regarding
the security problems that could arise from the more “informal”
style of the new Pope, Fr. Lombardi pointed out that “those
responsible for the security of the pontiff are at his service and
adapt their methods to protect each Pope in their personal style.
John Paul II, for example, was a pontiff who broke with all
expectations and went to greet people without any prior warning.
Those entrusted with the Pope's security adjust their methods to
protect each in their own way.”

Finally,
speaking of Pope Francis' health, Fr. Lombardi confirmed the report
that, when he was young, some 40 years ago, he had a pulmonary
illness and part of one lung was removed but that “this has never
been an obstacle either in his rhythm or for his work, his life, or
his pastoral care, as demonstrated by leading a diocese that requires
such dedication as that of Buenos Aires.”

Vatican
City, 14 March 2013
(VIS) – During the course of this afternoon's press conference, Fr.
Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office,
repeated the information for the upcoming papal events after this
afternoon's Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the Cardinal electors.

On
Friday, 15 March, at 11:00am in the Clementine Hall he will meet with
the full College of Cardinals, electors and non-electors, in the
Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. As the Holy See Press Office
spokesman noted, this will be a familial gathering, with the Pope
personally greeting each of the cardinals.

On
Saturday at 11:00am in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope will hold an
audience with accredited journalists (permanent and temporary) and
those who work in the media.

On
Sunday, 17 March at 12:00pm, he will recite the first Angelus of his
papacy from the papal apartments overlooking St. Peter's Square, as
is customary.

On
Tuesday, 19 March—the Feast of St. Joseph, patron of the Church—the
Mass to inaugurate the new papacy will be held at 9:30am in St.
Peter's Square. No tickets will be issued for that Mass. All who wish
may attend.

On
Wednesday, 20 March, he will hold an audience with fraternal
delegates
so there will not be a General Audience.